Tuesday, October 30, 2007

We finally went to the pumpkin patch last night to get our pumpkins. I had trouble the last couple years with pumpkins rotting too soon, so now I wait til the last minute to go.

Gavin has always loved going to get pumpkins so he was so excited to get there. I think he was even more excited to show Katelyn around. He wanted to show her where the little pumpkins where, where the big pumpkins where, and where the scarecrow was. But Katelyn was not having any of that. She took off in the opposite direction of wherever he wanted her to go. Miss Independent wanted to see things for herself. She picked up the pumpkins, she dropped the pumpkins, and she sat on pumpkins. She had the greatest time!

Gavin had a hard time choosing which one to take home."This one dad? How about this one? Is this one too small?" We finally settled on one medium size one for Gavin and a baby one for Katelyn.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

AAHH, another weekend come and gone. Friday night was our wind down night after a long week of school, karate, and choir. Gavin, Katelyn, and I got into our jammies early. Daddy went to bed when he got home from work so I had the kids all to myself. We had breakfast for dinner and spent most of the night playing in Gavin's room.

Saturday we headed out to our church fall festival. Since it was raining on and off that whole morning I wasnt sure what would be going on. So I didnt even tell Gavin where we were going, just in case it was cancelled. But thankfully the whole festival was moved inside. Bounce houses, inflatable slides, games, cotton candy and more! Such fun. The theme was the wild wild west and we even got our family pictures taken. Gavin made sure to play all the games to win candy. He made his own wild wild west bandanna and a stuffed manatee- not sure how that fit in with the wild wild west theme.

From there Gavin and I headed off to Target because we had yet another birthday party to go to on Sunday and we still needed a gift. They also had sweats on sale so I stopped by the kids department to get Gavin some ( just in case the weather EVER COOLS OFF !!!! ). I think this was the first time Gavin ever heard the word sweatpants. He just could not get what I was saying. He kept repeating back to me "sweat" pants? Like they were two separate words. And I would say, yes gavin, that is what they are called. And he would say back, But why "sweat"? Are you sure the word is "sweat" pants? yes Gavin, I am sure! He still giggles if I say it now. What a cutie!

Sunday we had the birthday party to go to. Ken stayed home with Katelyn so it was just Gavin and I. It was at the park and they had rented a spiderman bounce house. Every 5 year olds dream. Oh, and the pinata. We cant forget the pinata. Candy everywhere and kids running and screaming. Gavin had a great time with his school friends and I had a great time with the mommies.

And once again the baking bug bit Gavin and I. When we got home we made rice krispie treats. Yummy. It was my first time baking them, and lets just say, its not as easy as it looks. But we had fun with it.And after dinner it was bath, jammies, and bed. Another week ahead of us!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Gavin lost his 2nd tooth today. He brought it home in an envelope from school. This tooth has been ready to come out for about a week now. I actually thought he would loose it this past weekend in Orlando, but it held in there. It was literally hanging on by a thread for days. Gavin told me that it "just fell out of my mouth" during reading time at school. So now we are looking forward to the Tooth Fairy tonight!!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

SEA WORLD ! ! We spent this past Saturday in Orlando at Sea World. We headed out Friday afternoon and spent the night in a local hotel so we could get to the park first thing in the morning. We went with Katie and her son Austin, who is the same age as Gavin.

When we woke up Saturday the kids were super excited to get a start on the day. It was lightly raining as we headed out and by the time we got to the park the rain had stopped. The whole day ended up being overcast- which was great - no Florida sun beating down on us!!

We went straight to the Clyde and Seymour show. Clyde and Seymour are Sea Lions and had quite a funny act. Danyelle, Gavin, and Austin sat in the 5th row hoping to get splashed.

From there we headed to the shark exhibit where we walked thru an underwater viewing tunnel. This let the sharks swim around and on top of us. It was wonderful to be that up close to the sharks.

Sea World has an area just for kids called Shamu's Happy Harbor, where we headed next. This weekend the park was celebrating Halloween so every kid got a Halloween bag to go Trick or Treating with at the park. It was such fun for the kids to go from station to station collection the candy!

Then it was time for the Great Shamu ! ! The show was captivating to watch. It was such an enormous wonder to be that close to a killer whale. Everyone thought the show was great. Even Katelyn who by then was ready for a nap!

We also took in the dolphin show, saw the penguins, and watched the dolphins play. We had the best time at the stingray tank. We bought some stinky cut up fish to feed the stingrays. Gavin thought this was really fun. Sticking his hand in the tank while he was holding the fish for the stingray to grab from him made him scream with delight. Danyelle ,though, thought this was disgusting and watched from afar.

After that Ken and Danyelle rode Kraken a floor less roller coaster. Danyelle said they went so fast the wind in her eyes made her cry. They both enjoyed it alot.

We ended the day playing some games where both Danyelle and Gavin won stuffed Shamu whales. After a quick ice cream on the way out we were done for the day. Before you knew it we had spent 10 hours at the park and every minute was fun filled.

What a great way to spend the weekend- with family and friends. Hope everyone else had a great weekend too !

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Monday, October 15, 2007

Well its that time of year where our weekends are starting to get jam packed. Friday night started with Chris and Ryan coming over to play with Gavin and Katelyn. We spent about an hour or so outside with the boys playing on their skateboards and throwing the foot ball around. Little miss Katelyn was a good sport and sat in her stroller watching them. It also helped that we had the bubble machine going for her to ooh and aaah at. The kids came inside around dusk to have juice and a snack. After all four of them had a great time playing together.

Saturday the weather was great and Gavin and Katelyn spent some time outside playing in the backyard. It was so fun to watch the two of them together!! Katelyn had a blast going in and out of the playhouse and pretending she was using the little play sink. Gavin got a real kick out of pulling Katelyn around in the wagon.

Saturday night we went to St Patricks fall carnival. Katelyn rode some of the rides with her big brother and was not scared at all. She laughed so much

We got up early on Sunday to go to church and watch Gavin sing in the choir at the 11am service. He has been practicing for weeks now and he looked so cute up on the stage. He sings again around Christmas time and I am really looking forward to that. Sunday afternoon Gavin had a school friends birthday party to go to. It was at Largo Central Park. A lot of his friends were there and they all had a great timel We even got to see some pot bellied pigs that a farmer brought up to the field to graze.

And I guess Gavin got a sweet tooth at the party because when we got home he wanted to make cupcakes. So he brought over his cooking chair to the counter and we started cooking. After they were in the oven I let him lick the bowl and he thought he would share with Katelyn, which of course made a huge mess. And it was my luck that this was AFTER I had given them baths!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Monday, October 8, 2007

Gavin woke up Saturday tired, cranky, and crying. He had spent the night at Austin's house and they all woke up early to come back here for our garage sale. By the time they got here Gavin was inconsolable. I knew just by looking at him that he was sick. So I got the kids all set up in the house while jen, katie and I got ready for the garage sale. It lightly rained for about an hour and then the heat, humidity, and everblazing sun came out. To make matters worse, Gavin decided he was going to spend the day crying on my lap outside. He was complaining his throat hurt. No fever, thank goodness, but just horrible pain. And of course sitting outside all day in the heat made me cranky, irratable, and sunburned.

Poor Gavin got worse as they day wore on and by 6pm, my nerves were shot. Gavin cried and whined every time he swallowed and was starving because he couldnt swallow any food. Katelyn wanted my attention too and she was becoming quite clingy. After all day of listending to both of then cry and whine, I could not wait for the kids to go to bed because I couldnt take it anymore. I found myself snapping and yelling at everyone. Was it Gavin's fault he was sick or Katelyn's fault she wanted her mommy? No. Even though I turned into mean mommy by the end of the night I still felt bad everytime I yelled.

After the kids were finally in bed I laid in my own bed and tried to calm down. My tension and frustration were pounding in my head. I found myself talking to God. I vented my feelings about the kids and my irritablility. I asked for more patience. I asked for Sunday to be a better day. I let Him know I was upset that I snapped and yelled. I felt sorry for myself that my day was so bad. Poor me. And God did answer me. After I thought, poor me, I realized how really lucky I am. Are my kids sick everyday? No. Is everyday like today? No. I am very thankful for my wonderful family. I enjoy every mintue I am with them. Even on the bad days. I have to remember not everyone is as lucky as I. Some kids are sick all the time, some are in homes with no love, some do not have parents.

I kept Gavin home from school today. One more day of rest before he goes back. Or maybe I just wanted one more day to take "care" of him. To make him soup, lay with him on the couch, and hold him while he sleeps. And I dont mind any of it.